By an winter night
by lakemountain
Summary: In full winter night, Oliver is finally free and decides to find Shane. This is a short fanfiction about the porch swing. The characters belong to the talented Martha Williamson.
1. Chapter 1

**By an winter night.**

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In full winter night, Oliver is finally free and decides to find Shane. This is a short fanfiction about the porch swing. The characters belong to the talented Martha Williamson.

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Oliver had left the Mailbox Grill. The cold was getting colder and colder. He breathed fresh air and then looked at the moonlight for a moment. He was finally free. The postal detective was about to go home, when something pushed him back to the office. The night shift had already been on the job for hours. Oliver entered the quiet office. Then an envelope on his desk caught his attention. It had his name on it.

_Dear Oliver,_

_I would like to thank you for the great year I spent at the DLO._

_But today, I made the decision to leave the postal services forever._

_Thank you for the beautiful life lessons you taught me. I will never forget them, just as I will never forget you._

_Goodbye._

_Very sincerely._

_Shane McInerney._

After reading the letter, Oliver rushed into the streets of Denver. Today, he didn't want to lose someone in whom he cared about more than anything. Oliver O'Toole took his car. For once, he knew what he was going to do and he wasn't going to regret it.

He had arrived in a store. On the counter, the salesman had dozed off for a while.

"Good evening," Oliver exclaimed.

The old man woke up.

"Good evening, come in, please." He said yawning.

Oliver went around the store for a while. Seeing that it took him a long time to come back, the salesman came to meet him.

"What are you looking for?" Can I help you? I'm about to close the store, you know."

"Yes, I'm looking for a porch swing." Oliver says.

"A porch swing?! Yes, I have some. It's not yet the season to buy them. You are my first customer." The salesman said, showing him many swings.

"It's for a birthday present." Oliver said as he looked at the porch swings.

After a few minutes, he chooses one.

"Well, this is the first time I've seen anyone offer a porch swing for a birthday. You must really appreciate a lot this person, to give such a gift." Thee salesman declared, smiling.

"Absolutely. I really care about this person. Maybe much more than I thought, to be honest." Oliver admits.

"In that case, I'll give you a nice red ribbon with it." He added.

After his purchase, Oliver went home to get his toolbox.

He then went to Shane's house. Obviously, there was no one there yet. The evening at the Donatello's restaurant had to be extended. So I would have time to set up the porch swing before Shane came back, Oliver thought.

So he began to build the swing. The salesman told him that he had chosen a very nice swing. After a few thumping hammer blows that only made a dog bark, Oliver only had to fix the swing firmly. That's when a police car stopped nearby. Two policemen came down.

"Good evening, sir. Is everything all right? What are you doing here?" The first policeman asked.

"Good evening. I am installing a porch swing, as you can see." Oliver replied.

"At 2:00 a.m . I've never seen anything like this before. You may disturb the neighborhood." The second policeman added.

"Gentlemen,… Officers. This is really necessary. It's a birthday present I give to a very close friend before she returns. I'm almost done. If it wasn't so important, believe me, I would have chosen another time to do it." Oliver adds seriously.

"Do you hear that, Zak? A gift, for a very close friend. I would have said a girlfriend or fiancée. Well, make it quick, sir. We still have work to do. Good luck !" The second policeman declared.

They left and Oliver went back to work. After a few times, he had finished and added the ribbon.

Shane was holding a small box with her personal things. She was about to go home when she saw an individual from back, on her porch. She pulled out a letter opener, Oliver's favorite, to defend herself. The further she went, she noticed it was Oliver himself.

"But,... I... What?... Oliver, what are you doing here?" Shane asked, surprised.

He got up at full speed.

"Oh well. It's your birthday present, a little early." Oliver says with a smile.

"The end."

**Author's note: I decided to rewrite a sequel and another ending to this story, which is in chapter 2. Thanks to all :).**


	2. Chapter 2

"It's your birthday present, a little early. I'll let you try it on, if you up down your object... " He said.

He retrieves the letter opener.

"It's mine. Unbelievable. Being dispatched with my favorite letter opener. Real tragic poetry." Oliver says with a smile.

Shane took her box and put it down.

"I'd really rather we not talk about poetry tonight... But by the way, how long have you been here?" Shane asked.

"A little over an hour and a half. If you count the fact that I had to explain to two policemen, why I was installing a swing at 2:00 a.m." Oliver answered.

"Yes, why?" Shane asked.

"Tell me also why this box contains all the personal belongings from your office? Does that confirm what was in your letter, Miss McInerney?"Oliver asked.

"I'm quitting my job at the post office. I am resigning. It's an irrevocable decision." Shane replied.

Oliver had a small laugh.

"Miss McInerney, now I know you well enough to know that you choose to resign when you find yourself in a situation you can't control. And I know that you won't quit." Oliver added.

"This is no joke. I really intend to do it this time." She said as she walked towards the door of her house.

"Why?" Oliver asked.

"We've been working together at the DLO for almost a year now and now I know I don't belong in this job."

"Well, to be a good team, you have to take the time to get to know each other and share moments and experiences if you want to have the right chemistry to work together." Oliver said.

"I think someone will be more likely to do what you're talking about." Shane added.

The postal detective had a small laugh.

"If you remember Miss McInerney, the position you're in didn't even exist before you arrived. Until then, I never realized what a huge hole I had in my department until you came to fill it." Oliver said with a smile.

"I'm glad you noticed such an important detail. Now I'm sure you won't have any trouble replacing me." Shane declared.

"You replace? This is not..."

"My decision is made. I am leaving the postal services. I wish you both a lot of happiness, Oliver. She said before turning around to open the door to her home.

All she wanted was to go away, to not suffer again. What she had seen in front of the Mailbox Grill, had completely broke her heart. Shane had already left Washington DC, after a disappointment in love. And now she was about to do the same.

"Miss McInerney, my wife has gone back to Paris." Oliver announced.

Surprised, she opened her eyes, as if she didn't believe it, and then turned around.

"We wished each other well. And we kissed each other one last time, to say goodbye." Oliver told.

"It was just a goodbye kiss... And it didn't..."

"It didn't do anything," Oliver added.

She stepped forward to take his hand, on which there was no ring.

"How do you feel?" Shane asked.

"For a long time, I had been imagining what would happen if I knew I would never be Holly's husband again, how I would feel and most importantly, what I would do," Oliver replied.

"And what did you do?" Shane asked.

"I went outside and bought this porch swing." Oliver whispered.

Shane smiled and Oliver let him sit on the porch swing.

"Does it look like the one you had when you were little girl ?"Oliver asked.

"It's even better." Shane replied and invited him to sit down.

"Of course, there's no view of the Potomac River, but if you look right there...

"A crocus... It's a really nice birthday present. Shane exclaimed.

"I don't think I've ever spent a winter so long." Oliver exclaimed.

"Yes, but spring is coming very soon," Shane added as they swayed.

"Yes, spring will be here soon. And I think in a way you delivered me. You were there for me when I really needed. You even broke the rules of fairy tales. I've never seen princesses come to the aid of a prince." Oliver said with a small smile.

"Oh, yet it can happen, even in the 21st century," Shane exclaimed, laughing as she wiped away her tears.

"Thank you for your support, Shane, thank you for all." Oliver said with a tender smile.

* * *

The next day at the DLO.

"Here, Rita, I brought you a smoothie," Norman said as he entered.

"Oh, thank you so much Norman. That's lovely !" Rita exclaimed.

She looked for a moment at Shane's desk, which was empty with a sad look on her face.

"Shane is gone and may never come back. It's so sad. It's over, the POstables." Rita says with tears in her eyes.

"Rita, we will always be the POstables. And we had great moments together. It's true that Shane has brought a lot to the DLO. We're all going to miss her." Norman said with a smile.

"Yes, I'll always remember when she arrived. She pushed Oliver to have us go to Washington Park, when he wouldn't leave the office." Rita laughed.

"Good morning, Norman, Rita." Oliver said as he came in.

"Hi Oliver, so did you have a nice evening?" Rita asked.

"I'd say my late evening was very pleasant, with some nice surprises." Oliver replied, putting down his coat and satchel.

"Uh...Oliver... Speaking of surprises, I don't know if you know this already, but Shane has left the postal service. She handed you a letter of resignation... We need someone like Shane. Who's going to replace her ?" Norman asked.

"No one is going to replace me. Hello everyone. Sorry I'm late, but I brought you three Aspen "skinny" vanilla latte and a steamboat americano !" Shane exclaimed as she entered with a smile.

"Shane? So you're back!" Rita exclaimed and hugged Shane.

"Yes, I'm back. I never make the same mistake twice. I have no intention of leaving. This is where I have my home, my job, and a beautiful family of POstables." Shane said with a smile to Norman, Rita and Oliver.

The end.

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**Author's note: Thank you all for reading this story. Take care and have a wonderful day :)**


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